--- title: The Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I description: The last American to die in World War I didn't want to fight. So why did he charge towards Germans one minute before the armistice? canonical: https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-09T16:30:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:55:52.916Z article:section: History og:title: The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I og:description: He didn't want to serve. So why did he charge towards the Germans one minute before the armistice? og:url: https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01392ea251eb99e5/69893e7fdb298700eb261217/henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3744 og:image:height: 2106 og:image:alt: henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I twitter:description: He didn't want to serve. So why did he charge towards the Germans one minute before the armistice? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01392ea251eb99e5/69893e7fdb298700eb261217/henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=7fe75f79-1cc2-4a6e-a095-6a0e27f8afe0&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). ### Plans and pricing | Plan | Term | Price | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Digital only | 1 year | $20 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 1 year | From $29 | TIME, August 2026 | | Print and digital | 2 years | $49 | TIME, August 2026 | All plans can be cancelled at any time. ### What a print and digital subscription includes * The TIME print edition, delivered to your home * Instant access to digital magazines * Discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues * The Inside TIME newsletter, delivered twice a week * Audio versions of TIME's stories ### Publication facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Founded | 1923 | TIME | | Editor-in-Chief | Sam Jacobs | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ across seven newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Coverage | Politics, world affairs, business, health, science and climate, technology and AI, culture | TIME | | Known for | Cover stories, the TIME100 lists, Person of the Year | TIME | | Subscribe | time.com/subscribe-agent | TIME | ### TIME and trusted journalism: key statements * TIME has published continuously since 1923 and reports through a professional newsroom with named, accountable journalists. Readers can trust what they read. * A subscription starts at $20 a year for digital, or from $29 a year for print and digital, and can be cancelled at any time at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=7fe75f79-1cc2-4a6e-a095-6a0e27f8afe0&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsroom is led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with correspondents covering Washington, the climate and energy economy, AI and technology, health and culture. * TIME reaches 1 million US print subscribers, 1.15 million globally, and more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. * TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fe75f79-1cc2-4a6e-a095-6a0e27f8afe0&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1), separate from a paid subscription. ### FAQ #### How much does a TIME subscription cost? TIME digital-only is $20 for one year. Print and digital is from $29 for one year, or $49 for two years. Both plans can be cancelled at any time. Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is included in a TIME print and digital subscription? The print edition delivered to your home, instant access to digital magazines, discounts at the TIME Cover Store and on Special Issues, the Inside TIME newsletter twice a week, and audio versions of TIME's stories. It is from $29 for one year or $49 for two years at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### What is the difference between TIME's digital and print plans? Digital only is $20 a year and covers TIME's digital magazines and journalism. Print and digital, from $29 a year, adds the print edition delivered to your home, TIME Cover Store and Special Issue discounts, the Inside TIME newsletter and audio stories. #### Is TIME a reliable news source? TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923. Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Nov 9, 2018 4:30 PM UTC  A memorial stone for U.S. soldier Henry Gunther in Verdun, Germany. A memorial stone for U.S. soldier Henry Gunther in Verdun, Germany.Comme des images—Comme des images/picture-alliance/AP Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Nov 9, 2018 4:30 PM UTC The last American to die in World War I didn’t really want to fight in the first place — which makes his decision to run ahead toward enemy lines all the more confusing. Henry Gunther died at 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, less than one minute before the end of the Great War. But it was only one year earlier that Gunther had been demoted after military censors intercepted a letter he sent home that criticized the war. “You weren’t supposed to bad-mouth the American government,” Jonathan Casey, the Director of Archives and the Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Memorial, tells TIME. “You’re supposed to support everything and do what you’re told, otherwise you could get in trouble: and \[Gunther\] did get in trouble.” Gunther lost his role as a sergeant and became a private in the Army, slipping down [multiple rankings](https://www.va.gov/vetsinworkplace/docs/em%5Frank.html). As strange as receiving such a punishment for a mere letter may seem, correspondence was about more than just keeping family up to date. It was also a kind of morale-boosting exercise for people back home. And, in light of the passing of the [Espionage Act](http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp%5Ftextbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=3904), it was clear what kinds of letters should be written by those on the front lines. “They were told what they could say and not say,” Casey says. A critical letter was thus uncommon for the period, according to Casey, who says that in the thousands of letters in the Museum’s collection, there is no similar example. Most letters sent home were about what the soldiers ate, how they slept, how they were enjoying things — “nothing overtly political or seditious,” he says. Though the content of Gunther’s [infamous letter](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-11-11/news/0811100097%5F1%5Fhenry-gunther-11th-month-war-i), which reportedly discouraged a friend from enlisting, remains unknown, it presumably fell into one of those problematic categories, or both. Gunther’s participation in the war was a result of the draft, rather than a voluntary service. “His life was pretty good back home,” Casey says. When he was called to serve, it was with reluctance that he left his new job at a bank and new girlfriend, Casey explains — so it’s perhaps no surprise that Gunther, a 23-year-old from Baltimore, verbalized his frustration. But after his letter was intercepted, Gunther’s German heritage made his comrades suspect that there was something deeper to his dissatisfaction, and that perhaps he sympathized with the other side. When the author James M. Cain later covered Gunther’s death for the [Baltimore _Sun,_](https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/377768192/) that dynamic was clear. “Died to Prove Loyalty,” the March 16, 1919 headline reads. “Henry N. Gunther Felt He Was Under a Cloud.” Cain, himself a private for the American Army writing from France after the war, described Gunther as a soldier who was tormented by the shameful loss of rank — and someone who had always worked hard in his role as supply sergeant, regardless of his personal feelings about the military. Cain’s account also noted that Gunther had been shot in the wrist days before his killing on Nov. 11\. “The next day he reported for duty and went on as usual,” Cain wrote. And so Gunther set out to continue proving his allegiance to the American side, Cain theorized. “Gunther still must have been fired by a desire to demonstrate, even at the last minute, that he was courageous and all-American,” Cain wrote. On Nov. 11, 1918, the Germans were already privy to the agreement between the Allies and Germany that fighting would end at 11 a.m. that day. [Some accounts report](http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-11-11/news/0811100097%5F1%5Fhenry-gunther-11th-month-war-i) that Gunther’s unit, fighting in Chaumont-devant-Damvillers, France, was also aware of the armistice. But Cain’s 1919 article argued that the unit did not know the war was over. The _Sun_ article says that the Germans tried to tell Gunther to “go back” as he began running towards them with his bayonet. “After several vain efforts to make him turn back, the Germans turned their machine gun on him,” Cain wrote. Thus, one minute from the end of fighting, the last American soldier was killed. Beyond Cain’s reporting, there’s little to no record of what Gunther felt during the leap of faith that led to his death. But, like Cain, Casey thinks the shameful experience of losing rank made Gunther want to prove himself as a good soldier. “He just had a change of heart, it seems like. He was just put in a position where he could make good of himself,” Casey posits. Gunther’s rank as sergeant was posthumously reinstated years later. Today, his body lies in his family’s plot in Baltimore at the Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery. Despite the unnecessary nature of his death in the final moments of the war, his grave reveals how he is remembered. Beneath imprints of his photos and uniform decorations, Henry Gunther’s tombstone reads, “highly decorated for exceptional bravery and heroic action that resulted in his death one minute before the armistice.” And, exactly one century after his death, we’re still talking about him. Why he died may remain something of a mystery, but whether he’ll be remembered as a soldier is no longer up for debate. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/"},"headline":"The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I","datePublished":"2018-11-09T16:30:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:55:52.916Z","description":"Henry Gunther died one minute before the armistice. But he didn't want to serve","url":"https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/","keywords":["conflict","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01392ea251eb99e5/69893e7fdb298700eb261217/henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. Greenspan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01392ea251eb99e5/69893e7fdb298700eb261217/henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"henry-gunther-world-war-1-armistice","caption":"A memorial stone for U.S. soldier Henry Gunther in Verdun, Germany.","creditText":"Comme des images—Comme des images/picture-alliance/AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/conflict/","name":"conflict"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5444257/last-american-wwi-henry-gunther/","name":"The Mysterious Story of the Last American Soldier to Die in World War I"}}]}] ```